Evaluation for Nonprofit Organizations

The following bibliography was created to help grantmakers and grantseekers keep up with the latest developments in nonprofit evaluation. This resource list contains citations to selected works from the Foundation Center's Catalog of Nonprofit Literature, as well as links to useful Web resources. For additional reports, articles, and other materials on the topic, search the Catalog with the keywords "evaluation" or "assessment."

Books

Bartczak, Lori, ed. A Funder’s Guide to Organizational Assessment: Tools, Processes, and Their Use in Building Capacity. St. Paul, MN: Fieldstone Alliance, 2005. Call Number: 528 BAR

In this book, primarily directed to grantmakers with an interest in furthering capacity-building, a variety of assessment tools are presented and explained. Part 1 of the book provides tools that funders can utilize in evaluating the work of their grantees; Part 2 focuses on the work of grantmakers themselves, offering techniques for appraising their own efforts. With resource list and index.

Braverman, Marc T., Norman A. Constantine, and Jana Kay Slater, eds. Foundations and Evaluation: Contexts and Practices for Effective Philanthropy. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 2004. Call Number: 528 BRA

The following chapters are written by various specialists: Using Evaluation to Advance a Foundation's Mission; A Historical Perspective on Evaluation in Foundations; Foundations and Evaluation as Uneasy Partners in Learning; Building Strong Foundation-Grantee Relationships; Evaluation as a Democratizing Practice; Integrating Evaluation into Foundation Activity Cycles; Making Judgments About What to Evaluate and How Intensely; Adapting Evaluation to Accommodate Foundations' Structural and Cultural Characteristics; Field-Based Evaluation as a Path to Foundation Effectiveness; Strategies for Smaller Foundations; Strategies for Comprehensive Initiatives; Appraising Evidence on Program Effectiveness; Evaluative Thinking for Grantees; and Communicating Results to Different Audiences. Indexed.

Callahan, Suzanne. Singing Our Praises: Case Sudies in the Art of Evaluation. Washington, DC: Association of Performing Arts Presenters, 2004. Call Number: 206 CAL

Two case studies (Chicago Dancemakers Forum and Improbable Theatre) are used to illustrate the techniques and models for evaluation that are recommended and explained. Includes glossary and bibliographical references.

Grantmakers for Effective Organizations. Funding Effectiveness: Lessons in Building Nonprofit Capacity. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 2004. Call Number: 608 GEO

Contents include: "Investing in Nonprofit Capacity" by Barbara D. Kibbe; "Flexible Frameworks for Organizational Effectiveness" by Kathleen P. Enright; "Setting Clear Goals with High Expectations" by Janine E. Lee; "Better Results Through Supportive Engagement" by Alexa Cortes Culwell, Lisa Sobrato Sonsini, and Sterling K. Speirn; "Cultivating a Culture of Measurement" by Melinda T. Tuan; and "Funding Effectiveness for the Long Haul" by Rick Cohen. With bibliographical references and an index.

Hatry, Harry, et al. Developing Community-Wide Outcome Indicators for Specific Services. Washington, DC: Urban Institute, 2003. Call Number: 670 URB HAT

Full text available.

Hatry, Harry P., Jake Cowan, and Michael Hendricks. Analyzing Outcome Information: Getting the Most from Data. Washington, DC: Urban Institute, 2004. Subject File Number: 670

A basic guide for determining client services and outcomes.

How and Why Nonprofits Use Outcome Information: Findings from a Symposium. Washington, DC: Urban Institute, 2002. Subject File Number: 670

Reports on a symposium held in June 2002 that was sponsored by the Urban Institute, the Aspen Institute’s Nonprofit Sector Research Fund, Independent Sector, and the United Way of America. Full text available.

Morley, Elaine and Linda Lampkin. Using Outcome Information: Making Data Pay Off. Washington, DC: Urban Institute, 2004. Call Number: 670 URB MOR

Full text available.

Nayyar-Stone, Ritu and Harry Hatry. Finding Out What Happens to Former Clients. Washington, DC: Urban Institute, 2003. Call Number: 670 URB NAY

The book provides descriptions of the primary evaluation models that executives can utilize to assess programs, along with guidance on how to select among them. With bibliographical references.

Penna, Robert M. and William J. Phillips. Outcome Frameworks: An Overview for Practitioners. Rensselaerville, NY: Rensselaerville Institute, 2004. Call Number: 670 PEN

The book provides descriptions of the primary evaluation models that executives can utilize to assess programs, along with guidance on how to select among them. With bibliographical references.

The Program Manager's Guide to Evaluation. Washington, DC: Administration on Children, Youth and Families, 2004. Call Number: 670 ADM

Full text available.

SRI International. We Did It Ourselves: An Evaluation Guide Book. Sacramento, CA: Sierra Health Foundation, 2000. Call Number: 144 CEN OUR

A guidebook that explains in detail the various steps involved with outcome evaluation, specifically as it relates to programs that benefit children. Includes numerous charts, worksheets, data collection instruments, and real-life examples as well as a glossary.

Saul, Jason. Benchmarking for Nonprofits: How to Measure, Manage, and Improve Performance. St. Paul, MN: Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, 2004. Call Number: 670 SAU

Includes exercises and worksheets that illustrate the process.

W. K. Kellogg Foundation. Evaluation Handbook. Battle Creek, MI: W. K. Kellogg Foundation, 1998. Call Number: 670 KEL

Part one outlines the W. K. Kellogg Foundation's expectations for evaluations by grantees, and part two delineates the steps in project evaluations.

Wholey, Joseph S, Harry P. Hatry, and Kathryn E. Newcomer, eds. Handbook of Practical Program Evaluation. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 2004. Call Number: 670 WHO

Each chapter is contributed by a specialist. The book is divided into sections on evaluation design, practical data collection procedures, data analysis, and planning and managing for maximum effectiveness. Indexed by name and by subject.

York, Peter. A Funder’s Guide to Evaluation: Leveraging Evaluation to Improve Nonprofit Effectiveness. St. Paul, MN: Fieldstone Alliance, 2005. Call Number: 528 YOR

Evaluation is one capacity-building tool that funders can put into practice, and the book explains how the process can be implemented. Noting that both nonprofits and foundations benefit from this management tool, York provides step-by-step methods and many sample worksheets for assessing grantees. With bibliographic references and index.

Articles:

Boice, Jacklyn P. "Getting Down to Business." Advancing Philanthropy vol. 12 (May 2005): p. 16-23.

The article surveys the variety of opinions on the trend toward corporate practices for nonprofits, considering if there are drawbacks as well as advantages for the sector. Some question how well the field can measure the societal impact of nonprofits, at the same time that award programs are being established to do just that. The extent to which business criteria can be utilized to measure performance is debated by several leaders in the field.

Campbell, David. "Outcomes Assessment and the Paradox of Nonprofit Accountability." Nonprofit Management & Leadership vol. 12 (Spring 2002): p. 243–59.

Research conducted from 1998 to 2000 in the state of California delved into the validity of outcomes assessment as a measure of nonprofit accountability related to community-wide goals.

Cunningham, Katie and Marc Ricks. "Why Measure? Nonprofits Use Metrics to Show That They Are Efficient. But What If Donors Don't Care?" Stanford Social Innovation Review vol. 2 (Summer 2004): p. 44-51.

The authors embarked on a survey of individual donors who had given at least $50,000 annually, in order to ascertain how important performance evaluation was to them. Their anticipated study never was completed, however, because they soon found that very few of the philanthropists felt that evaluation was very important. Their findings, therefore, list the attitudes that the donors stated, which include the opinion that evaluation doesn’t matter, is too costly, and a poor use of limited resources. Many also expressed the idea that they would rely on institutional donors to create evaluation benchmarks, so they did not need to.

Fischer, Robert L. "The Devil Is in the Details: Implementing Secular Outcome Measurement Methods in Faith-Based Organizations." Nonprofit Management & Leadership vol. 15 (Fall 2004): p. 25–40.

In January 2002, Congress enacted and financed the Compassionate Capital Fund. Concurrently, there has been increased interest in evaluation of the faith-based programs that are receiving funding. Fischer explicates suitable models for social service outcome measurement, and also discusses some possible limitations.

Lang, Andrew S. and Glenn H. Tecker. "Monitoring Return on Strategy." Association Management vol. 56 (October 2004): p. 32-6, 38. Subject File Number: 604

How to integrate planning, financial management, and outcome evaluation.

Lannan, Tim. "A Diagnostic Model for Assessing Nonprofits and Their Organizational Effectiveness." Journal for Nonprofit Management vol. 8 (2004): p. 49-61.

With bibliographical references.

Lanzerotti, Rachel and Laura Lanzerotti. "Measuring Change to Make Change: The Fundraising Case for Program Evaluation." Grassroots Fundraising Journal vol. 23 (May-June 2004): p. 4-8.

Evaluation is important for measuring results and also for demonstrating to potential donors and funders that programs are effective. The article provides a primer for the process of evaluation, especially for small nonprofits.

Saegert, Susan, et al. "Participatory Evaluation: How It Can Enhance Effectiveness and Credibility of Nonprofit Work." Nonprofit Quarterly vol. 11 (Spring 2004): p. 54-9.

Full text available.

Internet Resources:

American Evaluation Association

The American Evaluation Association is an international professional association of evaluators devoted to the application and exploration of program evaluation, personnel evaluation, technology, and many other forms of evaluation.

Bruner Foundation - Rochester Effectiveness Partnership

The Rochester Effectiveness Partnership was a multi-year (1996-2003), collaborative partnership that provided in-depth training and hands-on experience in participatory evaluation for non-profit practitioners and funders.

The Fiscal Policy Studies Institute

The Fiscal Policy Studies Institute offers publications, online papers, and workshops on results-based decision making and budgeting, performance measurement, and financing. It also offers practitioners a questions and answers format guide, the Results Accountability Implementation Guide, from its affiliate Web site, http://www.raguide.org.

GrantCraft Evaluation Series

GrantCraft provides briefing notes that explain the basics of different evaluations techniques and answer some common questions about their uses. Each brief contains a mini-case, based on one grantmaker’s experiences.

Harvard Family Research Project - The Evaluation Exchange

This periodical highlights innovative methods and approaches to evaluation, emerging trends in evaluation practice, and practical applications of evaluation theory.

Innovation Network

The national organization provides consulting, training, and online tools for nonprofits and funders.

Bill Trochin, Cornell University - An Evaluation Culture

An exploration of what an “evaluation culture” would look like and how it would work.

Urban Institute

Provides a definition of performance management and provides performance management case studies and tools.

W. K. Kellogg Foundation - Logic Model Development Guide

A companion publication to W. K. Kellog’s Evaluation Handbook that focuses on the development and use of the program logic model.